


Out In The Open

by shiny_glor_chan



Series: Puppet'verse [3]
Category: DCU (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Multi, Puppets, Teen Titans v3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-10-16
Updated: 2008-10-16
Packaged: 2018-10-25 01:07:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10753539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shiny_glor_chan/pseuds/shiny_glor_chan
Summary: Young, Just Us PuppetsAs tensions run high at the Titans' Tower, a blast from the past in puppet form break it (or makes more tension).





	Out In The Open

It had been a while since any of them could even think about relaxing together as a team, so the older titans forced the younger titans into a movie night. Though, Robin was not really cooperating since he was on his laptop, filing. Halfway through the movie Robin was not paying attention to, someone closed his laptop.

“Hey!” he exclaimed.

Beast Boy paused the movie, and everyone looked over to see that no one had shut his laptop, but a puppet of Robin had. Robin picked up the puppet by its cape looking it over curiously. “Okay,” he said as he held up in the air, “whose idea of a joke is this?”

Eyes turned to Beast Boy and Kid Flash. “Not me, man,” Beast Boy answered.

All eyes turned to Bart. “I didn't do it either!” he exclaimed in his defense. “But whoever did, why not the rest of us? Or at least Young Justice...”

Once the words Young Justice had tumbled out of Bart's mouth, seven more puppets fell out of thin air, threatening to hit Bart in the head. With his speed, Bart caught all the puppets. All eyes fell on him once more, skeptical.

“I did not do this! I me- Hey, an Impulse puppet!” Bart got distracted by the puppet of his younger self, not noticing that the puppets of Superboy, Wonder Girl, and Secret were floating in the air.

“What th-” Kon exclaimed as his puppet self and the Wonder Girl puppet dragged him over to Robin.

The Impulse puppet zoomed out of Bart's hands to Robin puppet's side as the Arrowette, Empress, and Slobo puppets made their way across the couch, over Wonder Girl's lap, and next to the Robin and Impulse puppets. The Secret puppet floated over to join the rest of the Young Justice puppets.

The Robin puppet looked at his fellow puppet teammates and nodded. The Robin puppet along with the Impulse, Secret, Arrowette, Empress, and Slobo puppets reopened Tim's laptop. Tim tried to protest, but seeing the puppet of himself shake his head, he decided to give the puppets a chance to explain themselves, if they even could.

The Robin puppet quickly opened a word document as the Superboy and Wonder Girl puppets held Kon behind Tim, so they were the only one who could see the laptop screen. Robin puppet quickly typed into the keyboard.

_You really should tell them, you know._

Tim raised an eyebrow, not impressed as Kon snorted. “Tell them what?” Kon asked. “Like you puppets know anything.”

Robin puppet gave a good impression of the Batglare which shut up Kon for the moment before he started typing again.

_That Lex Luthor is the human half of your DNA._

Kon gritted his teeth and glared at Tim. “Did you make these things to out me, Tim?” he growled at his so-called best friend.

“I didn't; I swear, Kon,” Tim said truthfully as the Robin puppet started typing again, unnoticed.

“Out you?” Cassie questioned, not happy about more secrets. “Out you on what, Kon?”

“Nothing,” Kon and Tim said together. Cassie glared at them just before the Robin puppet motioned to read what he had typed before leaning almost smugly against the screen.

 _No one is going to care that your human donor is a psychopath. What_ you _should be thinking about is the very real chance that Luthor is going to use his DNA inside you as a mind control trigger._

Kon and Tim's eyes widened as they read the Robin puppet's logic. “How did I not think of that!?” Tim exclaimed angrily, snapping his laptop shut, almost catching the Robin puppet inside before standing up, looking at Kon. “I'll be down in the lab starting up some tests. Tell them _now_ , Kon, or I will tell them for you. This has become a matter team safety.”

Kon hung his head as Tim's cape swirled behind him as he left, the Robin puppet covertly following by hanging on cape. All eyes turned to Kon as the puppets released their grip on him. The rest of the puppets settled on the coffee table, waiting for Kon to tell his team the truth.

* * *

After the truth was out, Kon had to admit that the Robin puppet was right. The Titans did not shun him for having to share DNA with Lex Luthor. They were just angry about the secrets. Teammates should not be keeping secrets from each other, was what Cyborg said. _Family_ should not keep secrets from each other, was what Starfire added with Beast Boy and Bart agreeing. Raven kept quiet during the whole affair since she had hid things from the team herself. Cassie added her two cents, mostly on how did Kon expect to be in a relationship with her if was keeping such huge secrets from her? How could she trust him to not keep secrets about other things?

Kon sighed as the others left for their rooms, and he headed down to the lab to take the tests Tim definitely had planned for him. It was bad enough that he had a battery of tests waiting for him in the lab, but did he really need little puppet stalkers following him? They had proved they did not have malicious intent, but they were kind of creeping Kon out.

They were so _clingy_. Not to people but to the other puppet members of Young Justice. Empress and Slobo were holding hands, which Kon did want to think if those two had actually been that close before Slobo died. Then there was the fact the Wonder Girl puppet was no where near the Superboy puppet. It kind of hurt that even the puppet version of Cassie did not want him.

The Wonder Girl puppet was holding hands with the Arrowette puppet while the Secret puppet held Arrowette's other hand just before the set off into the air, Arrowette being carried by the other two puppets. It seemed a little strange to Kon, but before he could think too much of it, a blur of white and red and a blue and red blur shot past him. Kon groaned. Why did the Impulse and Superboy puppets think is was a good idea to have a race to the lab?

* * *

“Yo,” Kon greeted Tim awkwardly as he saw the reason why the Impulse and Superboy puppets raced to the lab; they wanted to wrestle with the Robin puppet.

Though, Kon was not sure he could call it wrestling before all three puppets rolled into a shadow, hiding them from his view. Kon quietly leaned on the huge computer station Robin was working at.

“Take off you shirt,” Tim spoke up, not even looking at Kon as he continued to go through files.

“Dude, I don't swing that way,” Kon joked which caused Tim to turn around, looking at him pointedly.

“Some of the tests require that I monitor your heartbeat, which I can't do properly with your shirt on,” Tim stated, frowning as he noticed the puppets behind Kon. “What are the puppets of Cissie and Cassie doing?”

Kon turned around to see the Wonder Girl and Arrowette puppets seemingly making out while the Secret puppet floated around them happily. “Uh...” Kon stuttered with wide eyes, turning back to the screen. “I'm gonna pretend that's not someone's way of telling me Cassie is gay for Cissie.”

Tim was still watching, intrigued though a bit disturbed by the puppets as the Arrowette and Wonder Girl puppet pulled the Secret puppet into their make out session. “And Greta,” Tim added turning back, noticing Kon's frown. “They're just puppets, Kon. They may be sentient, but that does not mean they act exactly how we would in their situation.”

“I would hope not,” Kon grumbled as he finally pulled off his shirt, belatedly noticing the puppets of himself and his two best friends were tumbling out of the dark, and what they were doing could hardly be considered 'wrestling.'

Tim followed to where Kon's eyes were and shook his head before concentrating on the data on the computer screen. “It probably wouldn't happen, Kon,” Tim muttered as he pulled up more data on Lex Luthor.

Kon's eyebrows shot up. “What do you mean _probably_? You think you, me, and Bart would have a threesome?” Kon questioned, as Tim winced at the wording.

“No, I meant anything is probable. It's not like we abhor each other,” Tim answered as he handed some patches with wires connected to them. “Put the red ones on your chest near your heart, and the three blue ones on your temples and forehead.”

Kon did as he was told, sticking the patches on his skin and tried not to tangle the wires. “Probable? We're all straight, Tim.”

“Actually, I'm bisexual, but that really hasn't come up in conversation.”

Kon jumped, noticing Bart had just appeared in room. “Don't do that, man!” Kon exclaimed, settling back in his seat for the tests to start. “Wait, you're bi!?”

“Mmhmm,” Bart hummed as Tim clicked in some commands for the computer to start running tests on Kon about his DNA.

* * *

The Robin puppet had been right; there was a trigger set in Kon's brain. It had taken a few hours of studying Kon's brainwaves, telling Bart to stop teasing Kon while they were testing, and the puppets being lovey-dovey around the lab before Tim had found anything of value.

Tim twitched as Bart brought the conversation back to sexual preference. “You know, I don't think kissing boys would be so different from kissing girls,” Bart announced from his perch on a table across from Kon, kicking his legs back and forth at an attempt to keep still.

At that comment, Tim hid a grin when Kon's heart rate shot up. “Ugh, Bart, why are we back to this?” Kon complained. “It's not like you've kiss-”

Tim turned around when he saw Kon's heart rate spike again just in time to notice Bart had decided it was a good idea to kiss Kon. Tim pulled Bart away from Kon, and Bart jumped back to his seat on the table. “Now I've kissed a guy, and I've kissed a girl before, so I can make an informed comparison now!” he said gleefully. “It wasn't much different. People only think it would be different because this century has a screwy perception on sexuality.”

Kon's mouth just hung open. Tim coughed into his fist to cover his chuckling. “You may want to close your mouth, SB. You're catching flies,” Tim paused. “Or maybe Bart will take it as in invitation to kiss you again?”

Bart grinned while Kon snapped his mouth quickly before protesting. “Argh, stop double teaming me, dammit!” Kon yelled.

Tim and Bart's eyes met before they both started laughing. Kon caught on with a groan. “Not what I meant!”

Tim laid a hand on Kon's shoulder. “We know, man. We're just messing with you,” he said before turning back to the screen, typing in a few codes. “I think we can get this trigger under control pretty easily. I don't think Luthor really planned for there to be a preemptive, so it should be easy to cancel out the programming.”

“That's great. How much longer do I have to sit here?” Kon asked, eyeing Bart warily, who had moved on to watching the puppets of himself, Superboy, and Robin cuddle and seemingly have a conversation in silence.

“Not much longer, Kon,” Tim answered as he continued to take Luthor's programming apart, bit by bit. “Are you really bothered by all this?”

Kon looked up. “Hm?”

Tim continued to type, his brow furrowing as he tried to phrase his next sentence carefully. “The puppets of us and Bart's orientation.”

Kon's bit his lip. “I dunno what to think. You're going through my head with your computer right now because of Luthor having a trigger in my brain that would probably make me a killer, I don't think me and Cassie are going to work out because I kept this secret from her, and now I have to question what I feel about you and Bart? It's a lot to take in at once, Tim.”

Tim nodded in agreement. “We'll always be your friends, Kon. Take as long as you need to figure everything out, but if you need help, come to us? We want to help.”

“That's right!” Bart piped up, leaving the puppets alone in favor of his friends. “Uh, sorry about springing that kiss on you. I didn't take much subjective time to think over if it would bother you.”

“It's all right, Bart,” Kon conceded. “Just, if I wanted to kiss you, I'd tell you.”

Bart raised an eyebrow, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Really?”

Kon paused to think it over. He did not actually mind the kiss much, it was just confusing to think about orientation on top of all his other issues. “Yeah, but lay off on any of that until I get my head sorted out.”

“Done,” Tim spoke up, pressing enter and waiting for the programming to load. “You may feel a small shock, but that means the program to get rid of the trigger is working.”

Kon winced when he felt the shock run through his brain and down his spine, but it was over quickly enough that it did not bother him too much. A few minutes later, the computer made a sound that meant the program had been successful. Tim quickly started encrypting and safeguarding all the information that had been created and filed in the pass few hours. Once they were done, Tim shut off the screen before standing up, stretching his arms and legs.

“You can take those patches off and put your shirt back on, Kon,” Tim stated as he started to collect the puppets of themselves. “Bart, can you grab the rest of the Young Justice puppets?”

“Sure,” Bart replied, and a second later had an armful of struggling puppets. “They don't seem to want to stay put.”

Tim grabbed the puppets of himself, Impulse, and Superboy, who were struggling from his grip as well. “They don't have to stay put, but they can't stay _here_. Bad enough they followed us into my-”

“-batcave?” Kon supplied as he slipped his shirt back on, and Bart snickered as Tim glared a little.

“No, Kon, it'd be a _Robin_ cave,” Bart joined in as they left the lab.

“Ha, ha, so very funny you guys,” Tim said sarcastically as he closed the door to the lab and let the struggling puppets free, Bart doing the same.

The puppets all stood together for a moment, looking up at the three boys. They waved goodbye, though Tim swore the Slobo puppet flipped them off before leaving because Empress puppet had just cuffed him in the back of the head. The Secret puppet hoisted the Empress and Slobo puppets in the air, following the led of the Superboy puppet who helped the Robin puppet in the air and the Wonder Girl Puppet that held the Arrowette puppet her arms. They all flew out the window, and the Impulse puppet followed after a few minutes, speeding down the side of the building and running across water to keep up with the others.

After the puppets were gone, an awkward silence was left in their wake. Bart could not stay still, shuffling his feet as they all tried to think of some way to break the uncomfortable silence. “Want to order some pizza?” Tim questioned, breaking the silence.

“Yeah, I'll go order some,” Kon added, going towards the kitchen for the phone.

Bart grabbed Tim's arm. “We can play video games while we wait!” Bart exclaimed, tugging Tim towards the common room. “Kon, you up for some Street Fighter?”

“Yeah! I'll play winner,” Kon called back from the kitchen. “What do you guys want on the pizzas? I'm getting pineapple.”

“Everything on mine!” Bart answered as he zoomed around, setting up the Playstation 3.

“Pepperoni for me,” Tim yelled as Kon dialed the number for the pizzeria.

Bart and Tim started up the game, picked their characters and started the match. A minute into the match, Kon came in, jumping over the back of the couch, sitting between his two best friends. They laughed as Bart and Tim somehow managed to end their matches in a double KO, having to play an extra round. After a few more double KOs, Kon noticed both the boys' smiles; they were doing it on purpose. Kon yanked the controller from Tim, knowing it must have been his idea. They started up another match, making commentary on whether the moves would be be possible in real life and who could pull them off. For the time being, everything was out in the open, and normalcy had returned, at least, the boys' version of normal.


End file.
